Forcing change in Japan

August 22, 2005

Change has come slowly--and sometimes not at all--in Japan. It is a nation that values tradition and slow consensus building, which is what makes Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's efforts to force radical reforms on his nation are all the more stunning.

Koizumi is trying to jump-start--finally--an economy that has languished for the last 15 years. Simultaneously, he is trying to begin a new era for Japan on the world stage, one that fully acknowledges once and for all its shameful past military aggressions in Asia.

On the first front, Koizumi is taking his case for reform of Japan's postal saving system to the voters. After rebellious members of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party failed to pass a measure allowing privatization of the postal system, Koizumi dissolved the lower house of parliament and has called new elections for Sept. 11.

Japan's postal system differs greatly from the U.S. system. It doesn't just sell stamps and deliver the mail. The Japanese system is effectively the world's largest bank. It has accumulated nearly $3 trillion in assets by paying above market rates to savers. It provides a steady supply of money for public-works projects designed more to boost the LDP's popularity than the nation's infrastructure.

Koizumi argues that the system is inefficient, leads to massive spending on questionable projects and hinders economic growth. When they go to the polls in September, Japanese voters must decide whether they want a more dynamic economic future or will settle for the long stagnant status quo. Koizumi has vowed to retire if he can't pursue this privatization, the centerpiece of a reform agenda he has advocated since he became prime minister in 2001.

On the second front in his attempt to force change on Japan, Koizumi marked the 60th anniversary of his nation's surrender at the end of World War II by performing a rare act of contrition. Traditionally, Japanese leaders mark the Aug. 15 date by visiting the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, a Shinto memorial that honors war dead but also glorifies Japanese militarism. The war museum at the shrine describes Japan's invasions of its Asian neighbors as attempts to liberate them from the clutches of the West and asserts that the U.S. forced the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Koizumi didn't go to the shrine this year. Instead, he appeared with Emperor Akihito to apologize for Japan's acts of aggression and the "tremendous damage and pain" its colonial rule and invasions caused throughout Asia. He also invited China and South Korea to work with Japan in maintaining peace and creating a climate for stable development in the region.

The rest of Asia responded skeptically. Sixty years after the war, Japan still stands accused by its neighbors of whitewashing its history and downplaying its past aggression against them.

Koizumi is not alone in his battle to wrench his nation out of a morass of its own making. But he faces resistance from the traditionalists in his party, which has ruled Japan for all but a brief period since World War II. Those traditionalists haven't just turned their backs on Koizumi's economic reforms; many of them also made visits rich in symbolism to the Yasukuni Shrine on Aug. 15. That sent a troubling message to Asia and the world that some elements in Japan are comfortable to remain mired in the past.

Japanese voters now can signal that they, unlike some of their representatives, want to embrace the future.

The U.S. can only hope Koizumi succeeds in his quest to bring the world's second-largest economy to life, and his nation to a final peace with its past and its neighbors.